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wait until the wedding an d I get to be the maid of honor,” Melanie teased.
    I sucked in a deep breath and was glad that she turned her attention to John and hoped she didn’t notice. Wes squeezed my side again as if to say it’s okay , but I was nervous as hell. It was going to slip at some point. I would end up telling her everything. I wasn’t good at keeping secrets and I wasn’t sure that Wes was a secret I wanted to keep.
     
    ***
     
    We hit up a pub that was near the United Center. Since it was a game night it was pretty much packed, but we were able to get into a booth after only a fifteen-minute wait. Ever since I got back from Vegas I hadn’t been talking to Melanie as much, mainly because I was afraid of spilling everything about Wes, so now that I had her in front of me I was rambling like an idiot about everything else I could think of that didn’t involve him.
    “So, basically Pam and Abbi want to start their own publicity firm and they want me to join in with them. It’s a great opportunity, I’m just hoping my clients go with me. If they don’t, I’m pretty much screwed. Now I’m kind of hoping I didn’t make a huge mistake in saying yes.”
    Melanie took a large gulp of her d rink, setting back on the table, looking at me like I just told her she smelled like shit. “Are you serious right now? You’re the girl that always tells me to go for everything and this sounds like a great opportunity for you.”
    “That’s exactly what I told her,” Wes chimed in.
    “Take it from me, man, the Wilder girls are very hard-headed and once they have their mind set to something it’s pretty hard to change it, but they do come around ... eventually,” John said and put his arm around Melanie pulling her close to his side.
    “That’s one way to put it,” Wes said.
    I turned toward Wes. “Are you trying to say that I’m a bitch? Didn’t we already have this discussion, multiple times?”
    Melanie laughed. “You two already sound like a married couple. How long have you been together?”
    I froze. I wasn’t the best at keeping a poker face and didn’t even know how to respond to her. But Wes was there to answer, with the truth.
    “I actually met her in Vegas.” He grinned and put his arm around me. “Sometimes what happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas, I guess.”
    “I’ve actually never been there,” John said, taking a drink of his beer. “Some of my buddies wanted to go for Spring Break, but ... I decided to take a pass.”
    “Aw and stay here with my little sister instead,” I said in a baby voice.
    “Hey, she’s invited with me whenever she wants to go someplace. I’ll never hold her back. She knows that.”
    “I always knew that I liked you, John.” I raised my glass.
    “Bullshit.” He winked at me.
    “Oh come on! I’ve always been on Team John! You can’t give me that.”
    Melanie laughed. “Yeah, team-making-sure-that-Mom-knew-about-him-before-I-was-ready-to-tell-her. Does she know about your new boyfriend , by the way? Or should I call her and tell her that you have a new man in your life and it’s time that she should make a trip to Chicago and meet him?” Melanie pulled her phone out of her purse.
    “NO!” I yelled louder than I intended to and noticed that a few people who were sitting at the tables next to us actually glanced over.
    “Whoa.” Melanie set her phone down. “Calm down, killer. I won’t call her.”
    “You must feel like shit right about now, dude. Sorry about that,” John said, looking at Wes. Wes kept his eyes on me. “I think it comes with the territory of being with a Wilder girl.”
    “I thought I heard the name Wilder,” an all-too-familiar voice said. I tried not to wince as I turned and saw the devilish smirk of Max Green.
    “Hello, Max, I didn’t expect to see you here,” I said with as much pleasantness as I could muster. He was still a client, but I really didn’t want to see him. Especially not with Wes there or my